Study finds how well species can move between habitat ‘islands’ in transformed landscapes is key to their survival – ScienceDaily

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When natural habitats are cleared to make way for cities, roads, and agriculture, this often leaves behind “islands” of fragmented habitats that can put species at risk of extinction. Species are endangered when they have difficulty moving between habitat areas to find resources and reproduce.

By combining laboratory experiments with mathematical modeling, researchers at McGill University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology have found a way to predict species movement that can guide conservation efforts to reconnect fragmented habitats.

The researchers determined that a species’ survival lies in the interaction between its movement patterns, such as the distance it will travel to move between parts of the habitat, and the way the passages connecting patches of habitat are routed.

They also found that the same landscape can promote the spread of certain species and hinder the spread of others, depending on how far it travels.

“We found that to predict the spread of species we need to combine knowledge of their behavior and about the network of potential pathways that connect patches of habitat,” said the McGill University biology professor. Andrew Gonzalezlead author of a new study published in PNAS.

Laboratory experiments and mathematical modeling

The researchers came to this conclusion by combining laboratory experiment with theory.

They first built patchy habitat networks to study the locomotion behavior and population growth of a model species, the tiny springtail insect-like Folsomia candida.

Next, they used a mathematical model to explore other scenarios not covered by the experiment, such as networks with many more patches of habitat than the experiments. Gonzalez and his team found that the time it takes for a population to colonize a network of habitat segments can be predicted by the distances between habitat segments and how easily organisms move between segments.

Inform conservation efforts

Conservation efforts in patchy landscapes are geared toward reconnecting isolated portions of habitat with pathways to help organisms find the resources they need to avoid extinction in the long term.

“We wanted to give conservation actors a way to estimate and anticipate the interconnectedness of patchy landscapes,” Gonzalez said.

“This knowledge is valuable to conservation NGOs because it can guide conservation actions to reconnect patchy landscapes and ensure the long-term spread and persistence of threatened species.” said Bronwyn Rayfield, the researcher who collected the experimental data.

The researchers also believe the findings could be used to aid habitat corridor restoration efforts already underway in many parts of the world.

The Canadian federal government is currently preparing a strategy to preserve habitat connectivity and invest in protecting and restoring habitat corridors. Also, the global biodiversity framework agreed upon at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity places great emphasis on restoring connectivity to habitats around the world.

“We believe our findings provide new knowledge to guide actions by countries looking to meet the 2030 goal of connecting habitats in the next decade,” said Gonzalez, founding director of the Quebec Biodiversity Science Center.

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